do you want to be a cool dad?

 The relationship between fathers and sons is the oldest one in the history of the world.  Adam was God’s first son, only preceded by Jesus, who like God, his Father, has always been.  But we all want our dads to be cool, to be able to brag on them when we are out comparing them to our friend’s fathers, from income, to job, to car they drive.  I went to high school with Larry, Enzo Stuarti’s son, who would drop him off occasionally in his Ferrari.  We had numerous very wealthy families, and their fathers with connections, or were the connection.  But as we got older, it came down to what they drove, what  you got picked up in from school, before your license.  And would affect your first car based on the coolness, or lack thereof.  The pecking order had just got moved up a notch....

A road test in Motor Trend today on SUV’s, seems it is either an over priced pick up, or an over priced SUV world, and they recommended “if you want to be the cool dad, this is the SUV to have.”  Just what kind of garbage are our fathers of today passing on to their kids?  An SUV cool?  Whatever happened to the cool dads with Chevy SS’s, Boss Mustangs, and Hemis under the hood?  How many of your friends begged your dad to buy the red convertible, now that was cool.  But even big block Chevies and Fords were better than the Ramblers my dad had, until he bought his first BMW.  Not for performance, it was named as one of the ten best cars in the world, and he figured it would last forever.  Because it was German.  A BMW 2002, today collectible, to him a way to get to work, but to me, the potential start of owning a cool car.  Which faded quickly....but the seeds were planted, and it was up to me to see they grew.

From Mustang convertibles, Thunderbirds, a Probe, and others, we usually had cool cars.  But we always had cool motorcycles, no matter what your dad picked you up in, your son putting on his helmet and all his friends watching as he rode off with you made him the envy.  “Dad, why can’t you ride a motorcycle like Christopher’s dad?”  But it never really sunk in, at least to me, how riding impacted my son, until when he was nine years old, he rode on the back of my FJ1100 to Canada.  Two weeks, rain, heat, ferries, and more fun than any nine year old should be allowed to have.  Which was made aware to me, listening to one of his friends bragging on his vacation, you know the type, “my Dad’s better than your dad,”  but in one sentence, Christopher had him.  “My Dad took me on the back of his motorcycle to Canada.”  Game over.  It was so cool to him, he didn’t have to brag about it, now that’s cool.  And he still rides today when he is in town....almost a prerequisite in our family.  What are you passing on to your kids about cool.....and are you still that cool handing over the keys to them? 

More important, what are you passing along to your kids about Jesus?  I never realized how cool God was until I met Jesus.  Imagine if you can, the disciples hanging with him, and the things they took for granted.  Then one day, without warning, really a warning they missed, he was gone.  Who would they turn to, what would they do?  But Jesus had told them, and he tells us too.  In the midst of the fear and confusion, and there had to be plenty, he told them about the holy spirit, who he would leave with them.  To guide, to help and be an advocate, to teach and be a witness to them, to lead them and be an agent of conviction, to be there always, to never leave them, nor desert them, no matter the sin or their abandonment of him.  This meeting that night, was followed before leaving by taking communion, a ceremony to remember his words, and to honor them in their lives.  This upper room discourse was meant to comfort and prove the spirit’s presence that night, and every night to follow.  Jesus promised them the spirit of truth, then left his spirit after he was gone.  Now how cool a father is that, to send his son so we can be reunited with him, God himself, and then leaving us, giving us his spirit for eternity, which we are in right now? 

So often we only notice the big things, the things that feed our egos and flesh, but God notices the small things we overlook, or think aren’t important.  By his spirit we can please him, how cool is that, to be able to please God?  Do you ever try to please him, knowing his love for you can never grow, for  it is infinite?  Just because he is your God, and your heavenly father, shouldn’t that be enough?  God wants it to be personal, so he sent Jesus, who makes it personal, and the spirit continues with us.  We all want to be proud of our fathers, to have them stand out as the best, the coolest, to our friends, but do we approach God the same way?  Do we think Jesus is cool, or hide him away?  Remember his warning, “if you deny me in front of men, I will deny you before my father in heaven.”  Now before you fall apart, God knows you cannot do it alone, so again, he has given us his spirit, remember the things he has to do?  All he asks is you follow and obey in love, so you can love others as he has.  We all have characteristics of our dads, but we can also have characteristics of God in us, by his spirit.  So do you want to still be a cool dad?

Simply put, the holy spirit provides what we need to follow Jesus in obedience.  That one sentence needs to stick with you.  Whether in a cool convertible, on a motorcycle, and even particularly if stuck with an uncool SUV?  See SUV’s will never be cool, no matter what we are told.  To me another lie of the devil.  But Jesus is cool, and what better way to live than to be cool in Jesus?  I tell people, Jesus and motorcycles, it just don’t get any better.  Rides with him prove it, with my wife and son only add to it.   But it is always about Jesus....so be cool about what you say about him or what you did on your vacation, we know what your dad drives.  Jesus may have been in one accord, not an Accord, proving by his spirit all things are possible.  Any bets in the garage in heaven a few more horsepower are just waiting.....heaven is cool, hell isn’t.  How cool is your God.....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

owners and riders

I made the big switch in 1972 to motorcycle owner.  But still was a rider, always was, always will be.  Today when we are out we meet many who come up to us and will say “I own a motorcycle,” only to find it is hidden somewhere in the garage, with half of the tank of gas they bought last spring.  It seems that there is a big difference between owners and riders, even Harley’s own HOG group Is Harley Owners Group, which may explain the multitude of late model Harleys with low miles for sale.  They bought, they posed, they sold, never really becoming a part of us, they were always apart from us.  In May of the year I bought my first Honda CB350, motorcycles were motorcycles, and the fact you rode was more important that what you rode.  Today we have baggers, cruisers, sport bikes, café racers, adventure bikes, Harleys, Ducatis, and BMW’s.  Like religion, each group having their own take on motorcycles, segregating themselves, elitist, an owner, but maybe not a rider.  And they come from all levels of society, doctors and lawyers, to 1%ers, all motorcyclists, just not all riders.  Even my last visit with Sonny Barger, we talked of how great Triumph new bikes were, how fast Kawasakis were, and the immergence of BMW.  But he will only ride American made bikes, hates Harleys, don’t get him going on them, was riding an Indian bagger, but really loved his Victory they didn’t make anymore.  The face of riding for many, he never will allow himself the joy of horsepower, handling, and comfort.  But being the rebel he is, any bets on late night races on a café racer.....owner and rider, a rare breed.

The old saying “$20,000 and 20 miles don’t make you a biker,” is still true today.  When we are in Pennsylvania and they see our Cali plates, riders come up and ask “did you ride it here?”  Also heard in Northern California, when we say we are from San Diego.  But the difference between owner and rider goes deep, as we can define our years by what we rode and where.  We have a common disease called motorcycles, and tell Harley jokes, Triumph jokes, and make fun of the plush animals on Gold Wings.  Our leathers are worn and faded, but our memories aren’t, and we look forward to each next ride with anticipation, the road can be the journey and also the destination, not just the next HOG free lunch or an owners meeting.  We are a diverse group, a unique minority in the world today, any guesses on what our plans are based on every weekend?  Or after I am done writing this?  Some own, some ride, if you find yourself waving to bikes when in a car, you get it.....

In the beginning it was just God and Adam, the perfect relationship.  Then came Eve, they sinned and were separated from God.  He offered his love via many ways, laws and legalism, commandments, showing them how to live in a fallen world.  But the beginning of religion began, choosing what rules and how to apply them, each group building barriers between them and others, each claiming the better way, but mostly missing God.  Sometimes altogether.  And then he sent Jesus to reunite us with himself, the law couldn’t and people wouldn’t, so Jesus became the way.  Again each group embracing a part or distancing themselves from one, ending up with what scripture calls a form of godliness, but without the fullness of Jesus Christ.  Each clinging to a partial gospel, never enjoying the fullness in the spirit.  Like motorcycle owners, they may be part of a religion, adhere to its rules, but never ride what they have.  “I go to church, I am a Catholic, I am a Baptist,” while the true rebels embrace Jesus Christ first.  Some are religious, some are Christians, some believe, some attend.  Some look the part, while those that have become a part have stopped looking.  Seems we all have the intrinsic desire to belong, to be loved and forgiven, yet will jump at the first chance to belong.  Twenty years in church and $20,000 given does not make a Christian, only knowing Jesus does.  With an interesting phenomena we see more and more of lately.  Many of us older saints have quit going to church, it has changed politically, socially, and even drifted away from Jesus, unknowingly and knowingly.  With many confused thinking the church is Jesus, the church doesn’t save, only Jesus does.  But all who are saved are part of his church, we both own and ride, still rebels in religion.  Choosing Jesus above all else......

Years ago when Ronald Reagan was asked why he left the Democratic party, he answered, “I didn’t leave them, they left me.”  Have you signed up for Jesus and settled for less?  Bought a touring bike that never leaves town?  Own all the riding gear but never wear it, or wear it and have become a poser?  Maybe when we find that riding is an affair of the heart, our riding habits change.  Same with Jesus, our your prayers rote?  Do you tithe miserably because your church says to?  Or do you meditate on God all day, does he fill your thoughts?  Does he influence your actions and emotions?  Do you seek him first, or the things of him?  Maybe it is time to start riding your relationship with Jesus, kick stand up, and away in the spirit.  Turn to Jesus today and don’t try to get it all at once, each ride is different, and each road too.  Maybe the blind man who was given his sight said it best, without any religious overtones, no church talk, but basic.  After he met Jesus, his answer was “Once I was Blind, but now I can see.”  No study could ever replace his relationship with Jesus.  He had met the Lord, and his life changed. 

And so I pray for Sonny, to know Jesus, and to take a ride on one of my bikes, which I have offered and he refused.  He has the same opportunity we have, don’t let brand order or denomination rob you from all the fullness Jesus has to offer.  Some own, some ride.  Some are owned, others are driven.  Jesus allows us to make the choice, love and life, religion or death.  In Christ we find true freedom, you can be part of the group or part of his family.  Even when in a car I still wave.....I am a part of us, just not wanting to be apart from us.  Owners and riders.....which are you?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

making the monsters real

We used to call them monster movies when I was a kid.  Not your basic Frankenstein or Dracula, but the ones we first saw on Chiller Theater, Zacherly, or Svengoolie.  The bad B movies, with names like Hideous Sun Demon, The Manster, It! the Terror from Beyond Space, and Creeping Unknown.  Black and white, made on a low or no budget in the fifties, with varying plots, but one common denominator, they all had a monster in them.  From mad doctors experimenting with radioactivity, to creatures from outer space hitching rides on space ships, these monsters all took on a personality of their own.   We very rarely got a clear view of them if at all, usually in the shadows, but the illusion of what they looked like in our minds was more than enough, so that for the few seconds they did appear, you could be disappointed.  It took magazines like Famous Monsters of  Filmland to fill in the blanks, and give us background, but we kept coming back, each Saturday night to see the next one.  Maybe you did too...

Some of my favorites other than the above are, The Tingler, Monster of Piedra Blancas, The Alligator People,The Neanderthal Man, Four Skulls of Jonathon Drake, Invasion of the Saucer Men, Brain That Wouldn’t Die, Brain From Planet Arous, and any John Agar movie, and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman.  Movies we would stay up late for, setting our alarms to watch, when we saw them in TV Guide.  Movies so bad they were good, movies that still scare a little, still put you on edge, and monsters that still scare you.  With one recurring theme, somehow the monsters were believable.  You believed, didn’t you?

It took a creative mind, not a low budget one, to make a monster believable.  So that a Hideous Sun Demon looked like the sun had made him hideous, that the floating skulls and shrunken heads looked real, that the Tingler’s shadow made you tense, and is that really what a saucer man looked like?  Somehow we all could associate with them, I can only think of a few monsters that ever disappointed me, I rather look back on the ones I could associate with, the ones you never saw enough of, the ones you tried in vain to describe to your friends in school the next day, or the ones like The Creeping Unknown, who first showed up on the space ship’s video, then on Victor’s hand, and finally trying to consume Westminster Abbey.  So believable they were unbelievable, I can still hear the 50 foot Woman calling for “HARRY!  Harry!”  While demolishing all those cool Plymouths in her path....

With one basic premise, to scare the pants off you.  To hold you in suspense, to let your imagination go crazy about the what did the monster look like, and to not disappoint you when they were finally seen.  No one knew what a real space monster looked like, or a person changed by radiation, or by having his head shrunk, just enough of science that was fiction to make you believe, and make you argue with your friends the next day. who all knew more about such things than you did, to them it was only a stupid movie, but to those of us who watched and worshipped them, it was real, and made our imaginations kick in, with a big what if, and what would we do in the situation if we ever saw one.  No borders on our imagination, seems the cheaper the film budget, the larger the imagination to enjoy it.  Of course these were made up, right?  I mean they were, weren’t they.....

But what we really had was faith, a faith that although the monsters may not be seen, that they existed.  That we may never see an invisible man, but we know he was there.  Christians are saved by faith, but often we don’t display our faith as we should or could.  To me it takes little or no faith to believe in Jesus, but many cults, atheists, and non-believers have different versions of God, which take more faith to believe than the facts the Bible verifies.  I listen when a non-believer tells me about his god, how the works he must do to get to heaven, to achieve nirvana, to ascend to the next level, and how they are loyal to the lies.  Such cults as The Way, playing Jesus’ words of how “he is the way,” but never acknowledging him as deity, or that he is the way.  Have it their way.  JW’s who deny his deity too, and live never knowing if they are good enough to make it to their afterlife.  Add in LDS, who have a made up Jesus, who was not God or even the son of God, but a created being, and you find even the staunchest believers denying the truth of the gospel, all based on false faith.  Each one adding a bit of a lie, and twisting scripture so the weak ones believe.  Jesus warned us, that they will sound so real that even the elect can become deceived, so how do you know?  One simple question, one you will be asked to answer sometime in your life, “who do you say Jesus is?  Is he truly deity?  Is he truly resurrected?”  Or is the god portrayed in their cult like the ones in monster movies?  Made up, based on facts, then let up to your imagination....not your soul. 

You see there is the truth, and then smaller truths, cleverly disguised but still a lie.  All lies being based on truth.  And these cultists go after the weak ones in their recruiting, again we are warned of weak woman who fall prey to these men, so beware.  Test the spirits like we are admonished to do, take nothing on face value, demand to see the hands of Jesus, as Thomas did.  Not a doubter, but he wanted proof, and Jesus supplied it.  Ask your pastor, read your Bible, test the spirit, to see if it truly is holy, for even Satan can appear as an angel of light.  Don’t fall into a fake religion, a cult, or a fad, based on a friend, or social pressure.  Even the cults know the others are cults, just not them.  Read your Bible, and trust Jesus, and when the false teachers and teachings don’t match up with scripture, leave.  NOW!  Don’t even wish them “God bless you,” lest you give credence to their false God.  Most of the New Testament has warnings about false teachers and doctrine, all leading up to the appearance of the anti-Christ, whose spirit is already here.  The anti-Christ spirit, instead of Jesus, so subtle, but really only needing you to miss Jesus, to make you wait or delay in believing, to poison your mind against the truth.  A spiritual battle going on for your eternal soul, right now, so hideous no monster could scare like he does.  Yet many follow in the dark....

There was a reason we watched monster movies in the dark, they were scarier, but when in the light and exposed, we find we are not as scared, even admitting, “I was afraid of that?”  When Jesus appears in your life, when his spirit directs you to him, you walk in his light, there is no darkness at all, for evil and the devil cannot live in his light.  So if your spirit is uncomfortable, maybe Jesus is trying to tell you something, it is called the truth.  It may make you leave your friends, your family, or even your social group, but Jesus says “pick up your cross and follow me.”  The cross makes all the difference, and he who was resurrected.  The Way is not the way, nor is any other false religion.  Be warned, not all monsters are out on Halloween, they are out everyday, seeking to kill and destroy.  Only Jesus saves, a simple fact to believe, because he proves it.  All others are based on lies and even tradition.  If where and how you worship is beset by a set of rules, beware, you are already under their control.  Know of the freedom in the spirit, heaven is real, but so is hell, and only Jesus is the way.  Follow him or these other monsters out to kill your spirit.  Jesus saves......only Jesus saves, and it is a gift you cannot earn.  He will remove your scars, his will endure forever, as proof of who he is and what he has done.  You do believe don’t you.....

Now back to your regular scheduled station....Gort, Klaatu barata nikto!

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com